Why smaller airports are shrinking

Have you noticed? Since 2007 we’ve seen the closing of many smaller airports. It’s easy to attribute this to the economy, but that isn’t necessarily the only reason, and it’s kind of a boring answer.

For many airlines, increasing fuel costs meant that shorter trips – like those usually made by small aircraft to small airports – were not as lucrative as they once were. Rising fuel costs aren’t the only culprit. Mergers with larger airlines (which focus on serving bigger airports in order to be cost-efficient) has also shifted focus away from small and medium sized airports. Combine this with the fact that there has been almost a 9% drop in domestic flights from the U.S’s busiest airports since 2007, and the 21.3% decline we’ve seen at smaller airports in the same time makes a lot of sense.